Just started (and finished) "To Kill a Nation: The Attack on Yugoslavia" by Michael Parenti.

It is a 215 page account of the "roots" of the Yugoslav disintegration and the bloodshed that followed. I try to read about as much as I can on the subject and found this book to be quite interesting.

First thing about Michael Parenti... it becomes obviously clear he is a fervent anti-globalist, anti-global corporation etc...

Having said that, don't assume that Parenti is a lock step "liberal" (I hate labels, but I'll use it here). Parenti spends almost the entire book criticizing Clinton, Half-Bright and Wesley Clark and almost every international leader that had something to do with the dismantling of Yugoslavia. At times, he is also critical of Germany and the Vatican, however, these are only underlying themes in support of his main thesis.

That is to say, the thrust of Parenti's argument is based on the fact that Yugoslavia was forced into such dire economic conditions (by a multitude of western forces), that the end result was bloodshed along ethnic lines. He argues that because the IMF, World Bank and various other groups undermined the Yugoslav economy, the country became ripe for bloodshed as each ethnic group struggled to get their respective piece of the pie.

He ridicules (by way of countless example), how the "western media" lacked any semblance of credibility (or neutrality) and presented stories without ANY facts. His book is NOT a blanket defense of Serbs and the government in Belgrade. He definitely lays blame upon Serbians when he thinks it lies with them, however, he presents a very compelling case against "the western powers".

The book rarely discusses the Orthodox Church, but does briefly mention the hundreds of Churches destroyed in Kosovo. To me, one of the most interesting parts of the book (which has been well known to most of us in the Serbian community for years) is where he writes of the phony PR campaign waged against the Serbs. He quotes from James Harf (the director for NYC PR firm Ruder & Finn) with regards to demonizing the Serbs:

"That was a tremendous coup. When the Jewish organizations entered the game on the side of the [Muslim] Bosnians, we could promptly equate the Serbs with the Nazis in the public mind. Nobody understood what was happening in Yugoslavia... By a single move we were able to present a simple story of good guys and bad guys which would hereafter play itself... Almost immediately there was a clear change of language in the press, with use of words with high emotional content such as "ethnic cleansing" and "concentration camps," which evoke images of Nazi Germany and the gas chambers of Auschwitz".

Harf followed this quote with:

"Our work is not to verify information... Our work is to accelerate the circulation of information favorable to us... We are professionals. We had a job to do and we did it. We are not paid to moralize".

In the final analysis, I do not completely agree with Parenti's central theme, I do think this is an excellent book, that is quite balanced and accurate. I would recommend highly to anyone interested.

Money controls the media, and there is definitely no greater financial powers than the power of oil controlled by the islamic nations and the control exercised by the Jewish institutions in many areas. I would be surprised if the Jews would support Bosnia over the Serbs, because it seems that Israel suffers from the same extremist ideology, and although I have many reservation on Israel's policies, they seemed very aware of the danger that faces them (they face it every day after all) and kind of the defense line against the terrorists plan. If they too are becoming stupid and blind to the global threat that will affect them the most, then there is no chance to recover from terrorism.

It is true that nobody really understood the cause of the Serbs and the attrocities committed by the Bosnian population, that prompted the war to begin with, were not exposed.

The impotent and wrong policy of the West towards conflicts with the muslims were part of the appeasement of the islamic populations in many european countries and part of the general scheme to support islamists to defeat communism, and the West reaps the fruits now. I wonder whether the decision to support islamists, in the light of recent development in the West, makes any sense now.

I remember that the UN forces bombed the Serbs on Resurrection Sunday, an act that cannot be repeated with any other nation.

Logged

In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the LORD at its border. (Isaiah 19:19)

" God forbid I should see the face of Judah or listen to his blasphemy" (Gerontius, Archmanidrite of the monastery of St. Melania)

The impotent and wrong policy of the West towards conflicts with the muslims were part of the appeasement of the islamic populations in many european countries and part of the general scheme to support islamists to defeat communism, and the West reaps the fruits now. I wonder whether the decision to support islamists, in the light of recent development in the West, makes any sense now.

I've often joked with friends that I'd never thought I would long for the "safe old days" when all you had to worry about was the communists!